Power of attraction still rules in workplace

Good-looking bosses considered more competent, MSNBC survey finds

NBC
VIDEO

•
Survey:
Looks do count at workMarch 6: In a survey done by
Elle and MSNBC.com, female bosses who were considered
attractive were rated competent 58 percent of the
time, compared with 23 percent for unattractive
supervisors.

As a woman
in a senior management position, I can relate what
my experience has been, and that is that I am often
left flabbergasted by women on the other end of
the line that are flat-out rude, nasty, moody and
highly emotional. I can't say that I've ever
encountered that with a male. — Posted by filha

Last year, Dr. Andrea "Andy" McGuire, vice president and chief
medical officer for a large insurance company in Iowa, decided
she wanted to run for lieutenant governor of the state.

The advice she got
from a campaign manager? “Wear three-inch heels every day because
you’ll look much more powerful.”

It’s all about image,
says McGuire. She realized long ago she had to look the part
and look good to make it in corporate America and beyond. “People
judge you on how you look, whether we like it or not,” she laments.

McGuire may be onto
something. At least her feelings jibe with the findings of the
Elle/MSNBC.com Work & Power Survey when it comes to the
attractiveness meter.

Good-looking bosses
were found to be more competent, collaborative and better delegators
than their less attractive counterparts, and most women believe
they are judged in the workplace on the basis of their looks.

“Physical attractiveness
creates a halo around a person,” said management psychologist
Ken Siegel, summarizing a vast body of research. “We still place
a premium on physical attractiveness as a mediator of other
things, and we do not attribute favorable qualities to people
we deem unattractive. It may even occur on an unconscious level.”

Good looks appeared
significant to both men and women and the workplace. About 58
percent of female bosses who were rated as attractive got high
marks for competence, compared with 41 percent of "average-looking"
female bosses and only 23 percent of unattractive supervisors.
Among people with male bosses, 61 percent who rated their supervisors
as good-looking also found them competent, compared with 41
percent for the average types and 25 percent for those rated
unattractive.

The one image issue
where men and women differed sharply was in how they saw themselves
judged in the workplace.

A large majority
of women — 61 percent — said they thought men judged them on
their looks and 54 percent said they were being judged on their
body and weight. Work ethic and accomplishments came in third
and fourth, followed by talent.

Men, on the other
hand, were more likely to believe that women judge them in the
workplace based on their work ethic (43 percent), or accomplishments
(40 percent). Factors like talent, sense of humor and looks
were lower on the list.

Based on our survey,
men may be living in a state of delusion since appearance seems
to play a big role in how subordinates perceive their bosses.

So women may have
an upper hand because they realize looks sell, says Siegal,
and “men don’t realize it’s an important dynamic.”

“You’d be a fool
if you didn’t use your looks to your advantage and make the
most with what you’ve got,” he notes. “Do not pretend it doesn’t
matter. It’s a huge part of life in the 21st century."

That means if you
want to make it up the ladder of success, you better hope that
your beauty is in the eye of all those beholders out there.

“Looking
good equals good,” says Sandy Dumont, president of the Image
Architect, a consulting firm.

She believes
you can change your look and make people perceive you differently.

First off,
she says, people need to kill casual day. “You never have the
advantage when dressed casually," she said. "You look like you’re
careless or have careless attitude.”

And a little
grooming wouldn't hurt.

About
the survey

Our
online survey was completed by 61,647 people,
about 50 percent male and 50 percent female.
The average age was 42, 94 percent said they
work full-time and 44 percent said they supervise
other workers. Although the sample size is
large and diverse, it is not considered nationally
representative because it was largely restricted
to MSNBC.com readers.

Dumont suggests people take care
of their hair, skin, nails and teeth and make them as shiny, bright
and clean as possible. “This is more about looking polished, which
translates into professional-looking,” she adds.

She also
advises dressing in bright colors that offer a contrast with
your skin and hair color.

“I’m not
talking Hollywood glamour,” she says. “I have never seen an
unattractive person. The people that come to me have generally
not yet learned how to make themselves look attractive.”

As for McGuire’s
bid for lieutenant governor, the high heels didn’t end up getting
her elected.

But the heels did
have some benefits: “It was more about getting people to support
you when they met you and the power aspect of looking them in
the eye because you are (5 feet 9 inches) rather than a couple
of inches shorter. You could tell it made a difference especially
with men.”